1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the insertion of advertisements and alternate content into multimedia content while viewing said multimedia content. More specifically, the invention relates to the insertion of advertisements and other alternate content at predefined spots within a multimedia content and, even more specifically, the invention relates to the rendering of focused advertisements and alternate content for viewing by a target audience on a handheld device.
2. Description of the Background Art
The availability and growth of use of handheld, portable, and mobile devices (generally referred to herein as handheld devices), such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) and a cell phone, are revolutionizing the experience individuals have when viewing digital multimedia content. Because each handheld device is specific to an individual, it is possible to personalize and focus advertisements, and other alternate content, to specific individuals, or groups of individuals, using targeted characteristics. Ideally, the advertisement for each individual should be tailored, or otherwise targeted, to fit the specific requirements of that specific individual. Therefore, it is preferable to provide each individual with specific advertisements.
One problem that exists today in implementing such a scheme is that there is limited bandwidth available in systems, such as those used in the point-to-point or multicast wireless broadcasting of digital multimedia content. Therefore, it is impractical to provide each individual with a specifically targeted stream that fits that individual's characteristics. This limits the possibility of targeting focused advertisements and alternate content towards specific individuals or groups. This is due to the fact that in such a case there are a substantial number of focused advertisements that must be broadcast simultaneously to achieve the objective of focused advertising. In addition, each user of the handheld device must be capable of identifying and viewing the alternate content or advertisement that is specifically meant for that individual. Hence, even though the idea of providing focused advertisements and alternate content to target groups has been a desirable concept in the advertising to customers using handheld devices, it has not been possible to implement efficiently.
The current practice for providing advertisements and alternate content for viewing on handheld devices is to insert them into the content supplied to the handheld device for viewing. The user of the handheld device is able to view the content and the inserted alternate content or advertisement when viewing the content either live or as stored and played back.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a method and an apparatus for displaying advertisements and/or alternate content on a handheld device, based on characteristics of an individual or a group of individuals. It would be further advantageous if such a solution ensured that the user viewed and interacted with the advertisement or alternate content while viewing the multimedia content.